Nonspillable inkwell



Jan. 22, 1946.

J. B. WILLIAMS NONSPILLABLE INKWELL Filed Dec. 24, 1943 lawezaiiow:

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Patented Jan. 22, 1946 STATES PATENT OFFICE NONSPILIJABLE 'INKWELIJJohn: B. .Williams, Wellesley; Mass.

Application December 24, 1943', SeriafNo. 515,471

(Cl. RIF-57 Claims.

Thepresent invention relates todnkwells which are normally open in.orden that the liquid kept therein may at alLtimeabe available foraccess bydipping; More. specifically, the invention. is concerned. with.improvements in a nonz-spillable inkwell whereby the escapeiof liquid isefiectively preventedeven though theinkwelLbe'accidentally tipped,rolled, or otherwise disturbed, eveni in relatively violentfashion. Theinvention is likewise. concerned with. improvements whereby smudging of.the penholder. duringuse of the. inkwell isprevented.

According to the invention, theinkwell islsubstantiallysphericalinshape, in. marked distinctiontolprior devicesof thiscategory. Preferably both theexterior. and the interior. are. spherical,but inrany event the-interior; except as will appear hereinafter,issphericah or nearly so, in order thatwave formation andv sloshing of.the inkv in caseof accidental-tipping: or rolling. of the inkwell maybe-minimized; Io-provide accesstotheink within, the inkwell is providedwithan openingwhich. includes a reentrant tube or" passage for the penpoint and lower end of the pen holder. This tube, which likewise serves;to hold the. pen when: the I latter is.- not inuse; is so" constructedand. arranged as to. be substantiallyfree' from wetting by. the ink, notonly during normal-use of. theinkwellinvolving repeated removal' andreplacement of the pen in replenishing; the inkon-the pen point, butalso under conditions of abnormal: position of the inkwelland itscontents. In the drawing:illustrating: the invention, Fig. 1 is-rasectionaliview showing theinkwell in normal position-.withaa pen thereinready for use; Fig. 2 is a view" showing the inkwell." tipped: forwardto a position. in which: the opening. for the-pen is substantially"horizontal: withoutv permitting the escape. of ink; and Fig.3 is a; viewof a slightly moidiiied construction; the inkwell being shown ininverted position; to illustrate: furtherv the retentiont 0fI.ink underabnormal" attitudes of the inkwellz.

As'haszalrea'dy'beendndicated; the: inkwelli comprises a; substantially:spherical body'- 6: which is pref erahly' formed'of, atransparent;materialsuch asglass; The sphericalsbody-is slightlyflattened, asrat 8; to provide abaseztoassist .in: defining andmaintaining a normal position: of theinkwe1l'.. I

' 'To provide; convenient. access to the: ink' at: all times, apermanent opening is" provided; in: the upper portion of the body at anangle to the vertical; Escape of ink through this opening is prevented,even though the inkwell be inverted,

by a reentrant tube l0 extending from the rim of the openingapproximately to the center of the. inkwell body.

According. tothe embodiment illustrated in Fig- 1,. the tube [0. maybe-made separately from.

thabody B and subsequently. secured. to a narrow upstandingrimor bead.l2. extending around the opening in the well. body. .The tubev may beformed. of. any suitable material, such. as metal, glass, plastic or thelike, and may be. secured by rolling its. outer endover. the rim. l2,.orby fusing to-thebody 6. The tube is shapedtoprovidea flaring mouth, andlikewise a flaring. lower or inner end,. to. afford to the pen someangular freedom. within the tube, even thougnthe tube, in the region ofreduced diameter l4-,.be substantially closed bythe body of thepenhold'er Hito minimize evaporation during periods of non-use.

To prevent smudging of the penholder. by ink that-may be depositedwithin:v thetube in withdrawing the. pen, longitudinal. ridges l8 may beformed in the tube. to provide limited area of contact between tube andpenholden. Preferably the ridgeshave relatively sharp edges. to causeany ink thereon quickly to bedrawn by surface tension. downinto thegrooves between ridges, and thence to the lower end of the tube. Thisend-of the tube flares somewhatbeyond the limit of movement of thepenholder, so that contact between the penholder and the inner end.of-the tube is effectively prevented.

Further protection against the escape of: ink into the tube,particularly when the inkwell is tipped or disturbed,.is afiorded byareverse flare or skirt 20- at the lower. end. of the tube. This skirtserves as a trap or baffle to prevent ink sloshing over into the tube.-The lowermostportion of the-skirt, with the wellin normal position, isbent downward slightly below the. horizontal to provide a lip or. horn22 for diverting any ink that may have run down the tube, either fromthe ridges within or from the skirt outside the tube; to-a dropping-offpoint for return to the supply. The ridges and the skirt thus cooperatein maintainingthe'tube free of ink. I

The ink level in the well is preferably slightly below the rim of thetube, so that with a pen resting in the well with itspoint against theinterior of the well oppositethe tube, thev pen.- holder is out ofcontact. with the ink but the pointis substantially covered, so. astotake up a full charge of ink when the. pen is- Withdrawn. Tofacilitate. access to the inkwhenrthe supply is low, and particularly toaid in replenishing fountain pens from the well, the body 6 is formedwith a thickened bottom having a sump 24 so positioned as to receive thepen point of a pen that is introduced in a more nearly vertical positionthan the normal resting position of a pen. The thickened bottom portionlikewise affords stability by reason of its added weight, in case theinkwell is formed of some relatively dense material such as glass.

By limiting the filling of the inkwell to the level above described, thewell may be tipped on its side (Fig. 2 )or fully inverted (Fig. 3)without at any time providing an opening below the level of the ink. Dueto the spherical external shape, the device, if tipped, rolls smoothlywithout causing violent agitation of the ink within, while the smoothspherical interior contributes to the prevention of wave formation andsloshing. It will be understood that waves, if formed, would tend tocause splashing of the ink into the tube and perhaps result in theescape of ink to the exterior.

Fig. 3, in addition to showing the operation of the inkwell in invertedposition, illustrates an alternative embodiment in which the reentranttube is integral with the body, This construction may be effected eitherby making tube and body as one piece, or by making the parts separatelyand then fusing the tube to the body adjacent the rim 26 to provide ahomogeneous construction. As an alternative to the protective skirtsurrounding the inner end of the tube, the tube is formed with a sharpknife-like edge 28 which prevents the passage of ink from the exteriorto the interior of the tube. At the lowermost position of the tube, withthe well in normal position, a horn or lip 39 may be provided as in thepreviously described embodiments to direct the ink away from the tubeand into the reservoir. 7

Fig. 3 likewise illustrates the preferred position of the inkwell incase it is desired to let the well remain for long periods of timewithout I a pen therein, or where the well isused solely as a reservoirfor the filling of fountain pens. With the inkwell in inverted position,the device is substantially self-sealing, and evaporation is slight.

I have thus indicated as my invention an inkwell which by its novelconfiguration, quite at variance with the usual shape of containers thatare normally open at all times for access to the liquid therein, issubstantially non-spillable, In addition, means have been shown forpreventing the ink from reaching areas that are apt to be engaged by thepenholder, and thus any wetting or smudging of the penholder is avoided.

What is claimed is:

1. A non-spillable inkwell comprising a substantially spherical hollowbody having an externally flattened and thickened wall portion toprovide a weighted stable base, said body having a normally open passageto provide access to the interior, said passage being defined by areentrant tube extending inwardly of the body substantially to thecenter thereof, the tube having a restricted throat portion intermediateits ends sufiicient to accommodate the body of a penholder andincreasing in diameter from said throat portion toward the ends, andinwardly projecting longitudinal ridges within the tube for supporting apenholder out of contact with the body of the tube, the inner end of thetube terminating at an acute angle beyond said ridges and said endportion of the tube lying outside the range of movement Of a penholderwithin the tube.

2. A non-spillable inkwell comprising a substantially spherical hollowbody having an externally flattened and thickened wall portion toprovide a weighted stable base, said body having a normally open passageto provide access to the interior, said passage being defined by areentrant tube extending inwardly of the body substantially tothe'center thereof, the tube having a restricted throat portionintermediate its ends sufficient to accommodate the body of a penholderand increasing in diameter from said throat portion toward the ends, andinwardly projecting longitudinal ridges within the tube for supporting apenholder out of contact with the body of the tube, the ridgestemn'nating short of the inner end of the tube and said inner endportion of the tube beyond the ridges lying outside the range ofmovement of a penholder within the tube.

3. A non-spillaible inkwell comprising a substantially spherical hollowbody having an externally flattened and thickened wall portion toprovide a weighted stable base, said body having a normally open passageto provide access to the interior, said passage being defined by areentrant tube extending inwardly of the body substantially to thecenter thereof, the tube having a restricted-throat portion intermediateits ends sufiicient to accommodate the body of a penholder andincreasing in diameter from said throat portion toward the ends, andinwardly projecting longitudinal ridges within the tube for supporting apenholder out of contact with the body of the tube, the inner end of thetube lyin outside the range of movement of a penholder within the tubeand terminating in a sharp edge.

4. A non-spillable inkwell comprising a substantially spherical hollowbody having an externally flattened and thickened wall portion toprovide a weighted stable base, said body having a normally open passageto provide access to the interior, said passage being defined by areentrant tube extending inwardly of the body substantially to thecenter thereof, the tube having a restricted throat portion intermediateits ends suflicient to accommodate the body of a penholder andincreasing in diameter from said throat portion toward the ends,inwardly projecting longitudinal ridges within the tube for supporting apenholder out of contact with the body of the tube, and a reverselyflaring skirt extending around the tube at the inner end thereof.

5. A non-spillable inkwell comprising a substantially spherical hollowbody having an externally flattened and thickened wall portion toprovide a weighted stable base, said body having a normally open passageto provide access to the interior, said passage being defined by areentrant tube extending inwardly of the body substantially to thecenter thereof, the tube having a restricted throat portion intermediateits ends suflicient to accommodate the body of a penholder andincreasing in diameter from said throat portion toward the ends,inwardly projecting longitudinal ridges within the tube for supporting apenholder out of contact with the body of the tube, said ridgesterminating short of the inner end of the tube, the end portion of thetube lying outside the range of movement of a penholder within the tubeand'terminating in a sharplyintersecting skirt having a reverse flare.

J OHN B. WILLIAMS.

